Technically it's not a tax on coupons, it's a tax on the item, that you have to pay on top of the coupon. So for sake of ease, lets say you buy a shampoo for $1, and have a coupon for 99c off. You live in a state with a 5% sales tax, you would have to pay 6c for that shampoo-5c tax and the 1 penny difference between the coupon and the price of the item.

Technically it's not a tax on coupons, it's a tax on the item, that you have to pay on top of the coupon. So for sake of ease, lets say you buy a shampoo for $1, and have a coupon for 99c off. You live in a state with a 5% sales tax, you would have to pay 6c for that shampoo-5c tax and the 1 penny difference between the coupon and the price of the item.

We have this in California, but since there is no tax on food, it isn't applicable to SNAP transactions.

When I lived in Idaho we were on SNAP. We paid tax if we used a manufaters coupon, but not a store coupon. We also got 5 cents off for every fabric bag we brought to use, but had to pay 3 cents in tax because that rung up as a coupon. I did buy some junk, but tried to keep it as healthy as possible. We recieved just under $700 a month for a family of 5, and most months I had between $50- $100 left from that month. The money does roll over to the next month and we were able to use the excess to get us through the month between us moving from Idaho and my DH getting his first check at his new job.
I really do think it would be harder to be single and have to buget the little bit of money you get then to provide for a family. Most places I shop buying larger cuts of meat and the cases of produce are cheaper then buying it in small amounts.

Exactly. Food is not supposed to be taxed, so what is being taxed here? The coupon?

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I'm not clear that the example this comes from was happening in California. I've never had this happen, and I used coupons to get overages when I was on SNAP years ago. One time, I left with a dozen boxes of cereal and $6 in store catalinas by using coupons and sales, and didn't pay any tax at all.

When we were on food stamps we got $520 something for a family of 3. That's almost $6 per person per day. We struggled to use it all. At the end of the month we went out and stocked up on canned goods, pasta and frozen veggies. When we got off food stamps, we had a pantry full of food that lasted us a couple months!

Currently we're a family of 4 and I spend about $350 a month on groceries. Not including the baby's formula. But that is almost $200 less then we got when it was just 3 of us (my daughter was just an infant/toddler then too). So I think they give too much to some people. There are some that only get a couple hundred a month for a larger family, it still goes off income (I think... I have never heard of SNAP before today).

Indiana also has no tax on food....but has exceptions. Junk foods and candies do have sales tax. I have no idea how Indiana determines what is a junk food/candy and what isn't. Some bags of M&Ms had tax, other kinds didn't, and both could be purchased with SNAP cards. Likewise, if you go to the Deli at Walmart and pick up a rotisserie chicken, you can use a SNAP card for that, but since the tax system figures it as part of the taxes you would pay like if you went to McDs. That doesn't explain it right, I hope that's clear.

Basically, even in states with no tax on food, there are some strange overlaps between the tax system and the SNAP system so there are going to be some foods that you will have to pay taxes on that SNAP will still cover.